The present invention relates to pharmacologically active derivatives of propargylamine and their use in the treatment of anxiety, psychotic states and aggressive behavior in affected animals.
Aggressive behavior as well as anxiety appear to be adaptation factors. However, when they become excessive or pathologic, they disable the normal interaction of an individual within society. It then becomes necessary to inhibit these behaviors.
Antipsychotic and anxiolytic agents such as chlorpromazine and diazepam are widely used to treat such pathologic anxiety and/or aggresivity. However, when used in the appropriate doses, these agents cause undesirable side effects such as sedation and ataxia. Buspirone, a well known anxiolytic agent, causes markedly less sedation than diazepam, but its anxiolytic activity is initiated only several days after administration. The discovery of new anxiolytic agents that do not induce undesirable side effects and have a more rapid onset of action would be a valuable addition to the present psychotherapeutic agents available to the physician.